Michael Kamen, the principal composer who scored the previous instalments in the Die Hard series, died on November 18, 2003.[1] The score for Live Free or Die Hard was composed by Marco Beltrami who incorporated Kamen's thematic material into his score.[2] Beltrami and Len Wiseman thought that the score should pay homage to Kamen's work from the predecessors, but the studio wanted a score that sounded modern. To achieve this, he used the chord voices in the brass and the motifs and string figures that scored the film in a modern setting but used them throughout the film as recurrent motifs. The orchestration and musical construction of violins and brass, both melodically and rhythmically mimics Kamen's orchestral style.[1]
Reception
Thomas Glorieux of Maintitles.net wrote "It isn't music that makes a large impression, and mostly it's based on stuff we heard of the composer before. The Kamen influence is nice from a fan's point of view, but really not that important. And for the rest, we receive exquisite action material from a technical point of view, but hardly memorable as well."[3] A reviewer from Film Music Central wrote "Marco Beltrami’s score is relatively simplistic but it serves the needs of the film, which is a big plus given how bad most of the film was."[4] Christian Clemmensen of Filmtracks.com wrote "Given the disappointment with the adaptation work in Terminator 3, this is a definite step in the right direction. But in the end, the Live Free or Die Hard score, like the movie, simply goes through familiar moves that may or may not be enough to sustain your interest."[5]
Eric Lichtenfeld, reviewing from Soundtrack.net, said of the film score: "Live Free or Die Hard has a handful of cues you may well want to crank up. It just doesn't have many you will want to hum afterwards. Or remember for very long."[6] James Leonard of AllMusic reviewed, "As a piece of pure music, the score for Live Free Or Die Hard is pretty negligible. As a soundtrack for a Bruce Willis picture, however, it doesn't get any better."[7] Kaya Savas of MovieWeb wrote "Moving onto the score this brings up Marco Beltrami. I can state here that I am not a Marco Beltrami fan. The only score of his that I liked was his score to The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada. I always feel like he never does anything thematic at all and which is why I was worried when he was selected to fill Michael Kamen's shoes. Michael Kamen was the composer of the first three Die Hard films, but sadly he passed away in 2003. He was a greatly respected composer and his work on the first three Die Hards were iconic. Thankfully Marco Beltrami rose to the occasion and did a wonderful tribute with his score to Live Free Or Die Hard. He touches on some themes that Kamen wrote and gives it that Die Hard feel and atmosphere."[8]
Track listing
Live Free or Die Hard: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack track listing
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Out of Bullets"
1:06
2.
"Shootout"
3:40
3.
"Leaving the Apartment"
2:08
4.
"Dead Hackers"
1:31
5.
"Traffic Jam"
4:12
6.
"It's a Fire Sale"
2:56
7.
"The Break-In"
2:27
8.
"Farrell to D.C."
4:35
9.
"Copter Chase"
4:41
10.
"Blackout"
2:03
11.
"Illegal Broadcast"
3:47
12.
"Hurry Up!"
1:22
13.
"The Power Plant"
2:01
14.
"Landing"
2:27
15.
"Cold Cuts"
1:59
16.
"Yippee Ki Yay"
4:42
17.
"Break a Neck"
2:47
18.
"Farrell Is In"
4:22
19.
"The F-35"
4:12
20.
"Aftermath"
3:12
21.
"Live Free or Die Hard"
2:56
Total length:
63:06
Personnel
Music – Marco Beltrami
Additional music – Marcus Trumpp
Producer – Marco Beltrami, Buck Sanders
Engineer – Denis St. Amand
Recording – John Kurlander, Kevin Globerman
Digital recordist – Tim Lauber
Mixing – John Kurlander
Mastering – Erick Labson
Music editor – Alex Gibson, Kevin Globerman
Music co-ordinator – Rebecca Morellato
Executive producer – Robert Townson
Orchestra
Performer – The Hollywood Studio Symphony
Orchestration – Bill Boston, Ceiri Torjussen, Dana Niu, Jim Honeyman, Jon Kull, Marcus Trumpp, Mary Finsterer, Pete Anthony, Rossano Galante, Tim Perrine
Conductor – Marco Beltrami, Pete Anthony
Contractor – Peter Rotter
Concertmaster – Endre Granat
Copyist – JoAnn Kane Music Services
Stage manager – Francesco Perlangeli, Tom Steel
Instruments
Bass – Christian Kollgaard, Drew D Dembowski, Michael Valerio, Oscar Hidalgo, Susan Ranney, Nico Carmine Abondolo
Bassoon – Judith Farmer, Kenneth Munday, Michael R. O'Donovan
Cello – Armen Ksajikian, Cecilia Tsan, Christine Ermacoff, Dane Little, David Speltz, Dennis Karmazyn, Hugh B. Livingston, Steve Erdody
Clarinet – Joshua Ranz, Ralph Williams, Gary S. Bovyer
Flute – David Shostac, Stephen Kujala, Geraldine Rotella
Harp – Marcia Dickstein
Horn – David Duke, Kristy Morrell, Richard Todd, Brian D.A. O'Connor
Oboe – Barbara Northcutt, Phillip Ayling
Percussion – Alan Estes, Daniel Greco, Marvin B. Gordy III, Thomas Raney, Wade Culbreath
Piano – Randy Kerber
Trombone – Andrew Thomas Malloy, William F. Reichenbach, Alan Kaplan
Trumpet – Warren H. Luening, Wayne Bergeron, Jon Lewis
Tuba – Doug Tornquist
Viola – Darrin McCann, David F. Walther, Kathryn Reddish, Keith Greene, Marlow Fisher, Rick Gerding, Robert Berg, Shanti D. Randall, Steven Gordon, Victoria Miskolczy
Violin – Alyssa Park, Anatoly Rosinsky, Bruce Dukov, Dimitrie Leivici, Eric J. Hosler, Eun-Mee Ahn, Irina Voloshina, Jacqueline Brand, Jay Rosen, Josefina Vergara, Katia Popov, Kenneth Yerke, Kevin Connolly, Lily Ho Chen, Marc Sazer, Mario DeLeon, Natalie Leggett, Phillip Levy, Rafael Rishik, Richard L. Altenbach, Roberto Cani, Sarah Thornblade, Shalini Vijayan, Songa Lee, Tamara Hatwan, Julie Ann Gigante
References
^ abA. Koran, David (January 21, 2008). "Marco Beltrami – Interview". Soundtrack.net. Archived from the original on September 19, 2012. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
^Marco Beltrami – Die Hard 4.0. Magic Sounds and Music. May 20, 2008. Archived from the original on January 19, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2024 – via YouTube.
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